Wideman/Davis Dance Company at City Art, 7:30 during Vista Lights TONIGHT

The buzz in the Columbia dance world is definitely about the new professional company that has chosen our increasingly arts-friendly city as their new home.  Wideman/Davis Dance Company isn’t really new though.  They’ve been around for several years, forming after Thaddeus Davis and Tanya Wideman-Davis got tired of living married life in different cities while Tanya danced as principal dancer at the illustrious Alonzo King Lines Ballet in San Francisco, and Thaddeus, heavily in demand as a dancer and choreographer, flitted from city to city creating his own personal style of Thaddeus-magic.  In fact, Thaddeus and Tanya aren’t really new to Columbia anymore, having been here throughout the year teaching at USC’s sky-rocketing-to-fame dance program, with their full company in residence for the month of November.  From their performances at 701 to Drayton Hall to the Koger Center to Mark Plessinger’s FOM series last month, more and more people are getting a glimpse of the blend of exacting technique with soul-stirring emotion, coated with a lovely layer of social consciousness, that these people bring to the stage — wherever they choose their stage to be.   And tonight, you can get a glimpse of the glory that is the Wideman/Davis Dance Company during Vista Lights.  As their early holiday gift to the city, the full company will be performing (for free, no less) at City Art at 7:30.  And from what I hear, darlin’s they will be rocking it out, treating you to excerpts from Rock and My Soul — yes, rock and roll music like you have never witnessed it before.  Personally, I’m pretty psyched.

And while we’re talking Wideman/Davis, mark your calendars for the nights of December 1st through 4th, when the full company will be premiering their new work at Drayton Hall on the campus of USC.  The new piece, entitled Balance, was created in response to the couples’ experiences working with the homeless here in Columbia.  Wednesday night, the 2nd, they will be hosting a group of the same homeless individuals and families — actually their students whom they have been teaching at one of the local shelters — as their guests for the performance.  This beautiful gesture of respect and appreciation will be preceded by a complementary dinner from Pasta Fresca, arranged by USC senior, the sweetheart, Margey Bolen.

Then, on Friday night, December 4th, it is your chance to get involved.  And I mean that literally.  Because WDDC is not your typical performing arts organization, they have chosen to forego the usual method of growing their supporters, (asking for donations at different levels of commitment, with different levels of rewards), by inviting any and all to become Partners in the Wideman/Davis Dance Project at a single level of $50 per person.  The smart cookies who join the Wideman/Davis Dance Project early, (prior to the beginning of the performance on Dec. 4th), will also be offered a free ticket to the Friday night show, as well as an invitation to a reception in their honor Friday evening, and future dancebill listing as charter Wideman/Davis Dance Project members.

I’ll have complete information on how you can become a part of this amalgam of socially conscious art supporters soon, but feel free to leave your contact info in the comments section below, or email me at caboit@aol.com, if you’d like me to follow-up on getting that info into your hard-working hands post haste.  In the meantime, come and see the Wideman/Davis Dance Company perform tonight at 7:30 at City Art during Vista Lights. I promise, you’ll be glad you did.